[mysonis55]

Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado Preview 2013


The big question for the Blue Tornado this year will be can they make it past Fort Campbell and make a deep run to the promise land again. The answer will come with whether they can find discipline in the program. The Tornado is always loaded with talent, as they are again this year. When you play this team you find they have SPEED at every position and the size to go with it. The thing that has stood in their way over the past few years is lack of discipline, which cost them practically every game they lost last season. The question is can they fix that this year?

The Tornado are always big and fast up front on the lines. This year will be no exception. This year they return their best threat at receiver in Darrius Spivey-Nunn. This kid is a blaze and is strong. He is all over the field. They also return their qb from last season in Jordan Tyler. This kid is mobile along with having a good arm. The Tornado have also reloaded with a bunch of talent that left the former schools of Lone Oak, Heath and Reidland to join this tradition rich program.

The coaching staff has also remained intact. This could be a good thing for the Tornado, due to the fact they know all of these young men and there is no new system to learn. The thing is it could be bad for the team as well. This because, this seems to be where the lack of discipline starts. The Tornado are prone to large penalty yardage in the form of major penalties. Early indications are that this trend may continue as they have already had a bench clearing brawl in 7 on 7 with Caldwell Co this year.

With the talent that has been assembled this year, the Tornado should be a top 5 team once again and should make it to at least the semi’s. It will be on the coaching staff and the leadership of the team to see this and right the ship. I would like to see this happen because I think it would be great for West Ky to see this team return to the power program that it used to be.

The schedule for the Tornado this year is also a very brutal one. The Tornado start their season at cross town rival McCracken Co. The Mustangs are being billed as the new 6a power in Western Ky. They then travel to Evansville Ind to play Rietz, which is a tradition rich program in the state of Ind. They then host the 1a state champs Mayfield. The Cardinals finished 14-1 last season and look to be reloaded for another deep run. They then travel to Graves County. The 5a Eagles finished 9-3 in a tough loss to Warren Central last season in the 2nd round of the playoffs. They then host the 4a state champs of 2012 in Highlands. The Blue Birds finished 2012 at 14-1 with their only loss coming out of state. They will also be reloaded, because they are Highlands. They then host Henderson Co out of 6a. The Colonels finished their season in 2012 with a mark of 9-3. They then travel to Madisonvill N-H. The Maroons are playing in 4a and finished 2012 with a mark of 7-5. They then host their division rivals in Fort Campbell. The Falcons bounced the Tornado from the playoffs in 2012 in a highly touted rematch. This came after the Fort Campbell coaching staff told the Tilghman coaching staff they would see them again in the playoffs, after losing at home and the Tilghman coaching staff advised them they would be there waiting. Next they travel to another district opponent in Trigg Co. The Wildcats finished 2012 with a mark of 5-6 and appeared to have been improving towards the end of the season. They then finish the season with their remaining district opponent in Webster Co at home. Webster Co finished 2012 with a mark of 1-9 and I’m sure will be looking to improve upon that mark.

This schedule should make the Tornado ready for anything they see in the playoffs. The questions will be, how many injuries might they take and how many of these games can they win. The last part of that question may be more important than anyone knows. This being because if they lose too many of these games this could lead to more doubts and problems within the program that needs to right the ship.

Players to watch for:

Jordan Tyler/ qb This kid lead the Tornado to the 2nd round of the playoffs
last season. He threw for 941 yards and 6 touchdowns in
just 9 games. At a year older and more versed in the
offense look to see these numbers increase.

Darrius Spivey-Nunn wr/cb This kid was all over the field last season for the
Tornado. There was hardly a play that his name
was not mentioned on. He appears to be a great
athlete and should see great numbers this year.

Michael Davis/ wr This kid was the leading receiver for the Tornado last
season. In just 8 games played, he grabbed 29 passes for
359 yards.